The present invention relates to motion system for simulator, and in particular, to a multi-tier jack motion system for simulating the motion cues in flight or vessel simulators and more recently in similar equipments used in theme/amusement park or sports/entertainment industry.
Simulators are well known in the art for training aircraft pilots without leaving the ground or putting themselves, their instructors or their aircraft at risks. With the advent of high speed digital computers, simulators are also used in the theme park or entertainment industry for simulating high risk activities such as catastrophes or down hill skying. Such non traditional use of simulators is popular because the passengers or users sitting on board of these equipments experience the exhilaration of dramatic motion cues as well as the sensation of gravity forces when the simulators mimic the motion of, for example, a world class down hill skier.
Prior art simulators are designed with aircraft pilot training in mind. As such, the extent of motion cues measured by the degrees of freedom is limited by the design of the motion systems, the weight of the fuselage sections, the instructor's control room and video/audio systems atop the simulator platform.
In general, the motion system of prior art simulators teaches the use of one tier of hydraulic jacks of various configuration to provide motion cues in one or more degrees of freedom. In other words, the jacks connect the base and the underframe of the platform directly and exclusively without other intervening connectors or jacks. U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,101 illustrates a flight simulator which teaches a single tier of three jacks and scissors for supporting a platform having an airplane cockpit and instructor's control room. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,412 shows an earthquake simulator for a theme park having one tier of vertical jacks and a set of horizontal jacks under the platform. Although U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,551,101 and 5,009,412 suggest movement of four, five or six degrees of freedom are possible, the extent of movement beyond three degrees of freedom is restricted by the height limitation in U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,101 and by perpendicular arrangement of the vertical and horizontal jacks in U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,412.